NCE to Recognize Alumni, Faculty, Staff and Students at 20th Annual Salute to Excellence March 21

Newark College of Engineering (NCE) at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) will celebrate its continued commitment to engineering education advancement at the 20th annual Salute to Engineering Excellence March 21, 2017, 6-9 p.m. at Nanina’s In the Park in Belleville, N.J. Proceeds from the event will benefit the NJIT Makerspace.

“The Newark College of Engineering looks forward to hosting many of its alumni and friends. This is an opportunity for NCE to reflect on its positive impact on the lives of graduates, the community and the profession,” said NCE Dean Moshe Kam. “The event also provides opportunities to network, to meet the recipients of our student awards and to recommit to the expansion, reach and impact of NCE and NJIT.”

The 2018 NCE Outstanding Alumnus Award will be presented to Alvaro J. Piedrahita ’73 and Dieter Weissenrieder ’76. Piedrahita, of Miami, FL, is president and chief executive officer of T.Y. Lin International. Weissenrieder, of Boonton, N.J., is chairman of the Weiss-Aug Group.

Piedrahita and Weissenrieder will join the ranks of accomplished alumni who have been honored by NCE for their achievements. In 2017, Kevin G. Carswell ’79 and Rocco P. Palmieri, P.E., P.P., P.L.S. ’72, ’77 received the NCE Outstanding Alumnus Award.

“NCE has a proud tradition of producing graduate engineers that have greatly contributed to industry and academia,” said Robert Cohen ’83, ’84, ’87, chair of the NCE Board of Visitors and a member of the NJIT Board of Trustees. “Many of our alumni and industry partners demonstrate the best the college has to offer. The Salute event allows us to give them the recognition they deserve and have earned.”

Faculty, staff and student honorees reflect the diversity of the NJIT community

Faculty, staff and student honorees reflect the diversity of the NJIT community and demonstrate an impressive range of engineering achievement. The students, for example, are acknowledged for their contributions to such areas as innovative design, research and peer mentorship.

Austin Matthew, Mark Neubauer, Roberto Pineda and Bryan Tran will receive the Saul K. Fenster Innovation in Design Award. The Baja Team will receive the NCE Outstanding Student Organization Award. The Department of Biomedical Engineering’s Pamela Hitscherich will be recognized with the NCE Outstanding Graduate Student Award for her many accomplishments. Xueqing Huang ’17, who is currently an assistant professor at New York Institute of Technology, will be acknowledged with the NCE Outstanding Doctoral Student Dissertation Award for her excellence in both teaching and research in the Helen and John C. Hartmann Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Other students receiving recognition include Jaasrini Vellore, who was named the recipient of the Madame Mau Outstanding Female Engineering Student Award, Bryan Wild, Outstanding Senior from the John A. Reif, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ivan Mitevski, who was named Outstanding Senior Overall and Outstanding Senior in the Helen and John C. Hartmann Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, along with Mina Moawad from the Department of Engineering Technology; Victoria Harbour from the Otto H. York Department of Chemical, Biological and Pharmaceutical Engineering; Andrew Bartz from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering; and Brianna Bohn from the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

One of the nation's leading public technological universities, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a top-tier research university that prepares students to become leaders in the technology-dependent economy of the 21st century. NJIT's multidisciplinary curriculum and computing-intensive approach to education provide technological proficiency, business acumen and leadership skills. With an enrollment of 11,400 graduate and undergraduate students, NJIT offers small-campus intimacy with the resources of a major public research university. NJIT is a global leader in such fields as solar research, nanotechnology, resilient design, tissue engineering, and cybersecurity, in addition to others. NJIT ranks 5th among U.S. polytechnic universities in research expenditures, topping $126 million, and is among the top 1 percent of public colleges and universities in return on educational investment, according to PayScale.com. NJIT has a $1.74 billion annual economic impact on the State of New Jersey.